The Upbeat Daily
★ Good news about America

Sunday, October 25, 2026

America's Good News: Sunday, October 25, 2026

From American history

On July 4, 1848, some 20,000 people watched the cornerstone of the Washington Monument go down on the National Mall. By 1854 the marble shaft stood more than 150 feet tall, and then the money ran out. For more than two decades it sat there, a stump, and during the Civil War the grounds around it served as a cattle yard nicknamed the Beef Depot. In 1876 Congress took over, and Army engineer Thomas Lincoln Casey shored up the foundation and got the masons climbing again. On Dec. 6, 1884, his crew set the capstone and its aluminum tip at 555 feet, making it the tallest building in the world. You can still see where the marble changes color. America doesn't always finish on schedule, but it finishes.

Water spills over the rim of the memorial's dark bronze shield fountain, which is engraved with the names of coalition nations
Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). The memorial's shield fountain, photographed Oct. 24, 2026 · Photo source and license

1. Honored at last on the National Mall: a new memorial salutes the nearly 700,000 Americans who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm

The National Desert Shield and Desert Storm Memorial was dedicated Oct. 24 near the Lincoln Memorial. Authorized by Congress in 2014 and paid for with private donations, it honors the nearly 700,000 Americans who served in the Gulf War.

Original title: “More than 35 years later, Gulf War veterans see their service honored on National Mall”

Citation: Will Vitka and Jimmy Alexander, WTOP News, Oct. 24, 2026

Source: Read the full story: More than 35 years later, Gulf War veterans see their service honored on National Mall →

A white 53-foot dry van semi-trailer rolls down a concrete freeway, seen from above
Photo: Ewkada, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). 2021 file photo of a semi-trailer on a freeway; not from the Illinois plants · Photo source and license

2. A third shift for the heartland: Hyundai Translead's Illinois trailer plants will now bring 3,750 jobs

Trailer maker Hyundai Translead will add a third shift at its planned plants near Joliet, Ill., raising the project to $600 million and 3,750 jobs, up from $450 million and 2,500 in March. The plants will reuse two former factory sites.

Original title: “Hyundai Translead adds 1,250 more jobs to Illinois expansion”

Citation: Miranda Davis, Bloomberg, via Transport Topics, Oct. 22, 2026

Source: Read the full story: Hyundai Translead adds 1,250 more jobs to Illinois expansion →

A computer rendering of a gold-plated dilution refrigerator, the stacked ultra-cold stages used for low-temperature physics, on a black background
Image: Onri Jay Benally, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. 2024 computer rendering of an ultra-cold lab cryostat; not the Northwestern trap · Photo source and license

3. Catching the uncatchable: American physicists hold a single particle of antimatter in place for months

A Northwestern University team caught a single positron, the electron's antimatter twin, chilled it to near absolute zero and has held it for months in a "container without walls," where it can be studied with extreme precision.

Original title: “Scientists trap and tame a single particle of antimatter for months”

Citation: Amanda Morris, Northwestern Now, Oct. 21, 2026

Source: Read the full story: Scientists trap and tame a single particle of antimatter for months →

Hands press down on the chest of a blue CPR training manikin on a classroom floor
Photo: U.S. Army National Guard (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). 2021 file photo of CPR training on a manikin; not the people in this story · Photo source and license

4. The neighbors didn't wait: their CPR kept a Detroit dad alive until firefighters brought him back

When a Detroit father of two collapsed in cardiac arrest Aug. 4, two neighbors started CPR and kept him alive until fire crews revived him with a defibrillator. On Oct. 23 the city honored them all. He is doing well.

Original title: “Detroit neighbors, firefighters honored after helping save man who went into cardiac arrest”

Citation: Demetrios Sanders, WXYZ Detroit, Oct. 23, 2026

Source: Read the full story: Detroit neighbors, firefighters honored after helping save man who went into cardiac arrest →

Light towers and bleachers stand over a quiet ballfield at sunset, with red and orange autumn trees behind
Photo: Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. October 2015 file photo of a ballfield at Warner Park in Madison, Wis.; not a World Series venue · Photo source and license

5. 'If we're down, we're not out': the Brewers erase a four-run hole to take a 2-0 World Series lead

Down 4-0 after one inning, Milwaukee beat Tampa Bay 5-4 in Game 2. Sal Frelick tied it with a sixth-inning homer and rookie Cooper Pratt singled in the go-ahead run in the seventh. The Brewers are two wins from their first title.

Original title: “Brewers rally vs. Rays in Game 2 to take 2-0 lead in World Series”

Citation: Jesse Rogers, ESPN, Oct. 24, 2026

Source: Read the full story: Brewers rally vs. Rays in Game 2 to take 2-0 lead in World Series →

Spot an error? Email [email protected]. See our corrections policy.

Subscribe